The Egg Farmers of Ontario marketing board is
this year’s winnerof the Paul Mistele Memorial Award which honours farmers who
donate to food banks.
The late Paul Mistele began a campaign in 1998 to
persuade hog farmers to make donations in the midst of a period of heavy losses
for hog producers.
The egg producers donated about $250,000 worth of
eggs to food banks.
The board runs a program that enables members who
make donations to add birds to their flocks. The concept is that their donation
will cover the cost of eggs the extra birds put into the Ontario market.
However, some critics have noted that farmers who
are making use of empty space in their barns can produce the eggs for
less than their financial contribution so they actually profit from the
program.
One can only hope these farmers don't also try to count their donation as a tax-reducing charitable donation.
The egg board said in March that it would
donate the equivalent of 12,000 dozen eggs every month to the Ontario
Association of Food Banks (OAFB), or 144,000 dozen throughout the year.
“It is an incredible and much needed commitment”,
says Bill Laidlaw, executive director for the association, “and will make a
huge difference in the health and accessibility of fresh food for those in
need.”
“Ontario’s egg farmers have a strong record of
donating to food banks and we wanted to give more through a program that makes
it easy for egg farmers and all supporters to donate fresh, high-quality
Ontario eggs to food banks across the province," said EFO Chair Scott
Graham.
“Protein is essential for proper nutrition and is
the most needed item by our food banks. The Egg Farmers of Ontario’s donation
really helps fill that need,” says Laidlaw.
